Malaysia's Labuan centre rewrites beneficial ownership rules for Labuan companies
Malaysia's Labuan Companies (Amendment) Act 2025 (Act A1756), gazetted on 24 April 2025, replaces the beneficial ownership provisions of the Labuan Companies Act 1990 with a new Part VA. Labuan companies and foreign Labuan companies must keep a register of beneficial owners with each owner's identity, residence and dates. Parallel amendments cover Labuan trusts, foundations and partnerships.
Labuan is Malaysia's international business and financial centre, with its own companies law and regulator, the Labuan Financial Services Authority (Labuan FSA). The amendments aim to meet anti-money laundering standards before Malaysia's next FATF evaluation.
What changed
- Sections 108A to 108H of the Labuan Companies Act 1990 are replaced by a new Part VA on beneficial ownership.
- Definition: a natural person who owns or controls a Labuan company or foreign Labuan company, directly or indirectly, through shares, voting rights or other ownership interests, or who exercises effective control as the Labuan FSA may determine.
- Register: each company must keep a register of beneficial owners with full name, addresses, nationality, identification, usual residence, and the dates a person became and ceased to be a beneficial owner.
- Matching amendment Acts were passed for Labuan trusts, foundations, limited partnerships and LLPs.
Who is affected
Labuan companies and foreign Labuan companies, their Labuan trust companies and resident secretaries.
What to do
Check each Labuan entity's register of beneficial owners against the new fields. Labuan FSA guidance sets the ownership threshold, generally more than 25%, compared with 20% for ordinary Malaysian companies.